Feeding Your Baby

Your baby depends on you for the nutrition she needs to grow. There are a number of safety concerns associated with feeding that you should remember.

• Nursing mothers: avoid alcohol and drugs, except medications prescribed to you by a physician. Inform your physician that you are breast-feeding before a medication is prescribed.
• Don’t use a microwave oven to heat a bottle. The contents of the bottle could be hotter than the bottle itself, and the buildup of steam inside a bottle could cause it to burst. Use a pot of hot water or pour hot tap water over the bottle instead.
• After warming, shake the bottle and test the temperature of the bottle’s contents by squeezing some onto the inside of your wrist. The contents should feel comfortably warm.
• Never leave a baby alone with a bottle propped in her mouth.
• Never eat, drink, carry or prepare hot foods or beverages while holding a baby.
• Keep hot foods and drinks away from the edges of tables and counter tops.